Tag: foods
The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture
The report complements other global assessments prepared under the auspices of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which have focused on the state of genetic resources within particular sectors of food and agriculture.
A Participatory Approach to Assessing the Climate-Smartness of Agricultural Interventions: The Lushoto Case
The concept of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is gaining momentum across the globe. However, it is not specific on what should be covered under its three pillars—productivity, resilience and mitigation. Consequently, CSA encompasses many different agricultural practices/technologies, making it difficult to prioritise CSA objectives. Firstly, there is a lack of clear and workable criteria as well as methods for assessing the climate-smartness of interventions. Secondly, little information exists about the impact of the various interventions already promoted as CSA, especially in the developing world. Finally, CSA prioritisation does not take into account stakeholders’ perspectives to ensure that the interventions are applicable, suitable and of high adoption-potential. Here, we describe a new participatory protocol for assessing the climate-smartness of agricultural interventions in smallholder practices. This identifies farm-level indicators (and indices) for the food security and adaptation pillars of CSA. It also supports the participatory scoring of indicators, enabling baseline and future assessments of climate-smartness to be made. The protocol was tested among 72 farmers implementing a variety of CSA interventions in the climate-smart village of Lushoto, Tanzania. Farmers especially valued interventions that improved soil fertility and structure, reduced surface runoff, and reclaimed degraded land due to the positive impacts on yield and off-season crop agriculture. Mostly, the CSA interventions increased animal production, food production, consumption and income. The protocol is easy to adapt to different regions and farming systems and allows for the better prioritisation of interventions. But we recommend that CSA is adopted as part of a monitoring, evaluation and learning process.
Developing fruit tree portfolios that link agriculture more effectively with nutrition and health: a new approach for providing year-round micronutrients to smallholder farmers
A sufficient intake of fruits can alleviate micronutrient deficiencies and reduces the risks of a number of associated diseases. In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, however, the production and consumption of fruits are inadequate on average and in particular so in specific seasons. To better incorporate fruits into local food systems while addressing the challenge of seasonal availability, World Agroforestry (ICRAF) has developed a methodology based on “fruit tree portfolios” that selects socio-ecologically suitable and nutritionally important fruit tree species for farm production, to meet local consumption needs. We here present this approach and illustrate it with data from a case study involving Western and Eastern Kenya. The approach uses mixed methods to capture on-farm fruit tree diversity and seasonality at a household level (n = 600 in our case study), the months of household’s food security and insecurity (n = 600) and food consumption patterns at an individual level, to identify dietary gaps (n = 294 women and child pairs in our example). In our case study, 31 fruit tree species were reported on farms in our Western Kenya sample (9 of which were indigenous) and 51 (27 indigenous) in Eastern Kenya. In addition, the median number of food-insecure months per household was four (ranging from 0 to 9 months) in Eastern Kenya and three (0 to 12 months) in Western Kenya. Finally, using 24-h recalls the proportion of women that had consumed a fruit the day before the interview was around 55% in Western Kenya and 80% in Eastern Kenya, with consumption averaging 93 and 131 g, respectively. Using these parameters for each site and fruit tree phenology and food composition data sets, we derived context-specific recommendations that involve promoting 11 fruit tree species to address micronutrient gaps.
Fresh Fruit and Vegetables: Contributions to Food and Nutrition Security
The chapter provides an overview of the importance of fruit and vegetable regarding food and nutrition security. It looks at the global consumption and production data and discusses their influencing factors. Selected examples of food-based approaches including fruit tree portfolios – addressing seasonal availability of fresh fruits, home gardens, food diversity and the potential of indigenous and wild species to improve nutrition and health are presented. In the concluding remarks challenges and opportunities for mainstreaming a diversity of fruits and vegetables into production and consumption systems are discussed.
Draft genome sequence of Solanum aethiopicum provides insights into disease resistance, drought tolerance, and the evolution of the genome
The African eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum) is a nutritious traditional vegetable used in many African countries, including Uganda and Nigeria. It is thought to have been domesticated in Africa from its wild relative, Solanum anguivi. S. aethiopicum has been routinely used as a source of disease resistance genes for several Solanaceae crops, including Solanum melongena. A lack of genomic resources has meant that breeding of S. aethiopicum has lagged behind other vegetable crops. We assembled a 1.02-Gb draft genome of S. aethiopicum, which contained predominantly repetitive sequences (78.9%). We annotated 37,681 gene models, including 34,906 protein-coding genes. Expansion of disease resistance genes was observed via 2 rounds of amplification of long terminal repeat retrotransposons, which may have occurred ∼1.25 and 3.5 million years ago, respectively. By resequencing 65 S. aethiopicum and S. anguivi genotypes, 18,614,838 single-nucleotide polymorphisms were identified, of which 34,171 were located within disease resistance genes. Analysis of domestication and demographic history revealed active selection for genes involved in drought tolerance in both “Gilo” and “Shum” groups. A pan-genome of S. aethiopicum was assembled, containing 51,351 protein-coding genes; 7,069 of these genes were missing from the reference genome. The genome sequence of S. aethiopicum enhances our understanding of its biotic and abiotic resistance. The single-nucleotide polymorphisms identified are immediately available for use by breeders. The information provided here will accelerate selection and breeding of the African eggplant, as well as other crops within the Solanaceae family.
Supporting human nutrition in Africa through the integration of new and orphan crops into food systems: placing the work of the African Orphan Crops Consortium in context
Better integrating currently under-researched nutrient-rich new and orphan crops (NOC) into food systems could play an important role in addressing poor human diets. Understanding the multiple interventions required to support effective integration is, however, not straightforward. Current research to support this objective has generally been inadequate, in large part because insufficient attention has been given to draw together the multiple disciplines needed to explore and reach solutions. A broad interdisciplinary research programme is needed to provide answers to the following questions: how do dietary diversity and crop diversity interrelate at national and local food system levels? What drives crop integration or exclusion in food systems over time? How can new technologies be embraced in combination with best existing practices to genetically improve, better manage and more effectively process crops? And what are the best approaches to bring about behavioural change among farmers, food processors, consumers and other stakeholders to introduce new practices and foods?
Gendered knowledge on food trees for addressing food security and nutrition in Uganda and Kenya
Food trees provide fruits, nuts, leaves and seeds that contribute substantially to food and nutrition security of African rural households. Farmers have a wealth of local knowledge on food tree species for cultivation and use for various household needs. This knowledge is influenced by gender and age-related factors often neglected in research and development endeavors. This study sought to understand gendered and age-related knowledge on food trees use in Uganda and Kenya. The purpose was to identify context-specific food tree portfolios that can sustainably address food and nutrition gaps while responding to the needs and strategic interests of different gender and age groups. Data collection was conducted through genderand age-segregated focus group discussions in two sites in Uganda, Nakaseke and Nakasongola, and two sites in Kenya, Kitui and Mwingi west. Participatory research using seasonality calendars and score – ranking was conducted with sixteen focus groups and comprised of a total of 160 participants to understand knowledge and preferences for food trees. A total of 61 food tree species were listed with differences among countries. In Uganda, the total species number was 47 (including 58% exotic species), and in Kenya 55 (65% exotics). In Uganda, knowledge on food tree species differed between genders, with older women listing the greatest number of priority species (22), followed by younger women (19) and older and young men (15). In Kenya, older women and men identified 38 and 36 species respectively, whereas younger women identified 26 species and younger men 23 species. In all four sites, both men and women preferred exotic food tree species such as Mangifera indica, Passiflora edulis and Persea americana. Both men and women especially valued food trees that contribute to improved health, nutrition and income, those whose products have a good taste, and with medicinal properties. For old and young women, the main reasons for selecting food trees species was their availability and role as children’s food. Findings show diverse food tree species that fill food and nutrition gaps and the value of gender-sensitive participatory research for understanding local knowledge, needs and constraints, to inform project implementation decisions.
Breeders’ views on the production of new and orphan crops in Africa: a survey of constraints and opportunities
New and orphan crops, which in the past have received only limited research attention, have great potential to support healthy diets in Africa. However, limited systematic data are available on the constraints to production faced by these annual and perennial crops, and the possible opportunities for intervention to remove critical barriers. We report on the results of a survey of African plant breeders to begin identifying constraints to crop production, guide the direction of crop genetic improvement activities and identify appropriate agronomic management interventions. The survey was completed by 67 plant breeders affiliated with institutions in 18 African countries and focused on crops prioritized for genetic improvement by the African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC). Of the survey respondents, 38 worked on new or orphan crops on the AOCC crop list. In total, respondents provided specific data on 30 of these crops. We discuss the findings of the survey, which indicate that pest and disease attacks, and lack of access to – or availability of – high-quality planting material are important barriers to be addressed in enhancing production. Other insights from the survey include the differentiation of responses based on the part of the crop used for food, and breeders’ views on the future importance of these plants. These results and additional findings are elaborated along with opportunities for future research to delve deeper into production constraints and solutions for new and orphan crops.
The role of genetics in mainstreaming the production of new and orphan crops to diversify food systems and support human nutrition
Especially in low‐income nations, new and orphan crops provide important opportunities to improve diet quality and the sustainability of food production, being rich in nutrients, capable of fitting into multiple niches in production systems, and relatively adapted to low‐input conditions. The evolving space for these crops in production systems presents particular genetic improvement requirements that extensive gene pools are able to accommodate. Particular needs for genetic development identified in part with plant breeders relate to three areas of fundamental importance for addressing food production and human demographic trends and associated challenges, namely: facilitating integration into production systems; improving the processability of crop products; and reducing farm labour requirements. Here, we relate diverse involved target genes and crop development techniques. These techniques include transgressive methods that involve defining exemplar crop models for effective new and orphan crop improvement pathways. Research on new and orphan crops not only supports the genetic improvement of these crops, but they serve as important models for understanding crop evolutionary processes more broadly, guiding further major crop evolution. The bridging position of orphan crops between new and major crops provides unique opportunities for investigating genetic approaches for de novo domestications and major crop ‘rewildings’.